Toyota President Akio Toyoda said earlier this week that the strong yen was reaching levels “far beyond what is tolerable,” threatening to make it necessary to move production out of Japan.

Toyota had shown tremendous ability to bounce back after the March disaster, reaching pre-tsunami levels of global production in September, faster than its initial expectation of recovering by the end of this year.

He asked that the government do more to prop up the dollar, stressing that manufacturing in Japan would be “destroyed,” not just hollowed out, which is the common term to describe production moving out of Japan.

But then the floods in Thailand struck and are expected to cost Toyota tens of thousands of vehicles in lost production.

TOKYO Toyota said its quarterly profit slid 18.5 percent to 80.4 billion yen ($1 billion) on plunging sales caused by parts shortages from the tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan and warned it faces a new challenge from flooding in Thailand.

Global sales for the six months totaled 3.03 million vehicles, down 18.5 percent from a year earlier as vehicle sales shrank in Japan, North America and Europe, according to Toyota.

Toyota, which was the world’s biggest automaker in annual vehicle sales last year, sank to No. 3 in the first half of this year, trailing U.S. rival General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG of Germany.

Toyota said the unfavorable exchange rate erased 80 billion yen ($1 billion) from its latest quarterly net income.

“It looked as though they were about to get back on track and then got hit by this latest derailment,” he said.

Talati said Toyota needs to keep bringing exciting models to attract new buyers. He believes Toyota has put the large recalls of 2009 and 2010 behind it, but still faces powerful competition not only from the U.S. automakers but also South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., which have lured away Toyota fans.

Toyota shares lost 1.7 percent to 2,503 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, shortly before earnings were announced.

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Toyota Motor Corp. declined Tuesday to give a forecast for the full financial year ending March 2012, citing uncertainties stemming from the Thai floods which have disrupted supplies of parts and prompted it to cut some car production.

The Thai floods, which began in July and now threaten central Bangkok, are compounding the production damage. The country is the Southeast Asian base for several automakers. Toyota said production cuts in Japan, which began last month, will continue through Nov. 18.

Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, counted on the dollar costing 86 yen last year, but is now seeing it slip to 78 yen.

Toyota, Japan’s top automaker, said that vehicle sales plunged in the key markets of Japan and North America, but it was making up for some of the losses by strong sales in Asia, such as India and Indonesia.

Toyota’s quarterly sales fell nearly 5 percent from a year earlier to 4.57 trillion yen ($58.7 billion).

Also battering Toyota is the surging yen.

All the Japanese automakers are suffering after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan damaged key parts suppliers. That meant they made and sold fewer cars than normal.

“Toyota’s biggest issue right now is production. They’ve had some bad luck this year with the tsunami and now the flooding in Thailand,” said Chintan Talati, analyst at auto information site TrueCar.com.

For the first half spanning April 1 through Sept. 30, Toyota’s profit nose-dived nearly 72 percent to 81.6 billion yen ($1 billion). It had eked out a tiny profit in the April-June first quarter. First-half sales fell 17 percent to 8.01 trillion yen ($103 billion).

NEW YORK Skinny French chicks and roly-poly straight men. Lesbian chic and the chaotic state of style. Nothing and nobody escapes the gaydar of the fabulously floral Simon Doonan in his new book, “Gay Men Don’t Get Fat.”

The ex-creator of edgy window displays for Barneys details his coming out moment as a boy of 10, reading a reporter’s account of gay men hooking up in a North London park after dark (”Sign me up!”).

He recounts his giddy deep dive into Christmas ornaments stashed in a White House storeroom by former first ladies as he worked with Michelle Obama on her first-year holiday decor, only to be upstaged by “those idiot Salahis” of red sari, gate-crashing infamy.

The diminutive Doonan was creative director at Barneys for 25 years. After a shake-up at the luxury retailer, he’s now creative ambassador-at-large. But he’s oh so much more: cheeky memoirist, provocative columnist and always hilarious chronicler of his very gay, very fun New York City life with husband Jonathan Adler, the potter and interior design expert, and their Norwich terrier Liberace.

When it comes to style, Doonan said, gays are the chosen people. From fashion to food, he sees gay men as the real culture keepers over all those hungry females in Mireille Guiliano’s “French Women Don’t Get Fat.”

“We gays have an unconventional world view,” he said. “We have the piercing objectivity and bold originality of the outsider. French women cannot compete with us. We are not bourgeois. We possess the indiscreet charm of the anti-bourgeoisie.”

Here’s more from Simon Doonan:

AP: You’re “one funny gay nugget,” as Chelsea Handler summed up your book in a back-jacket blurb. Yet you say the intended audience is straight women. Do we straight women need educating?

DOONAN: I want to liberate the women of the world and teach them to live with the stylish bravado of we gays and wee gays like me. Being a woman has become so complicated and pressurized. I want to make it easier, or maybe just more creative. Fashion and style should be about personal expression.

AP: Do you really fly coach?

DOONAN: I’m not part of the 1 percent. I’m a hardworking gay who is proud to fly coach, but only on short flights. I also ride the subway, and not in a Marie Antoinette kind of way. It really is the easiest way to get around.

AP: You used to do the windows at Barneys. Do you miss that?

DOONAN: I dressed windows for almost 40 years. When I finally put down the glue gun last year it was something of a relief. Ditto the staple gun. However, I would highly recommend a career in window display to any budding fashionista. It’s been great for me.

AP: You’re 59. Do you feel at peace with the aging process?

DOONAN: I loathe the idea of growing old gracefully. I fully intend to grow old eccentrically and dramatically. Brace yourselves! I have no issue with wrinkles or lines. I think people worry too much about that stuff. The most important thing is to stay fit. My fave exercises are tap dancing and runway modeling.

AP: How would you define your approach to clothes and to life?

DOONAN: I’m a charismatic deviant with a freaky world view. I’m determined to extract all the nuggets and nuances from my fabulous gay life and hurl them at the general population with tremendous force and gusto.

AP: You’re the fashion guru and your husband, Jonathan Adler, is the decorating guru. How do you reconcile your styles at home? Or is that why people have multiple dwellings?

DOONAN: When it comes to decorating our homes, my Jonny wears the pants. I wear an embroidered Hungarian gypsy dirndl skirt, metaphorically, of course. Seriously, I think doing things by committee is a disaster. Even a committee of two, or three if you count the dog.

AIRING CONCERNS: China urged the European Union to heed objections to EU plans to charge airlines for carbon emissions. Airlines flying to or from Europe must obtain certificates for the carbon dioxide they emit. They will get free credits to cover most flights this year but must buy or trade for credits to cover the rest.

FLYING ON FUMES: The charges,Wholesale Juicy Couture jackets, which took effect Sunday, aim to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Airlines call them an improper tax. Ratings agency Fitch has warned that the conflict could spiral into a global trade dispute.

CHINA’S BIG STICK: Beijing could have unusually strong leverage in a possible dispute because its state-owned airlines carry large numbers of Chinese and other Asian tourists to Europe. Any disruption would hurt Europe’s travel industry when the continent is struggling with a debt crisis and high unemployment.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Country legend Loretta Lynn has rescheduled her first two shows of the year to give her knee more time to heal.

The 76-year-old singer underwent total knee replacement surgery in the fall and suffered from pneumonia.

Daughter Patsy Lynn Russell tells The Associated Press that Lynn’s doctor thought she needed a couple more weeks of physical therapy to return to top form. Russell says her mother has been busy rehearsing with her band and preparing for her 2012 tour.

According to Russell, Lynn said she is feeling so good, she “might even put her dancing jig back in the show.”

Lynn was scheduled to perform in Ashland, Ky,Replica Bulzeye, and Durham, N.C., this weekend. Those shows will now take place in February and April, respectively. Lynn’s next gig is Jan. 21 in Miami, Okla.

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Online: http://www.lorettalynn.com

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For the latest country music news from The Associated Press, follow http://www.twitter.com/AP_Country

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) Garry Shandling, Kevin Pollak, Margaret Cho and other comedians are onboard for a festival at which they will curate classic films, provide commentary about them — and perform their own comedic material to boot.

The first Wayne Federman International Film Festival will be held January 12 to 14 at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles.

Federman appeared in an episode of “The Larry Sanders Show,” which starred Shandling,Wholesale Juicy Couture jackets, and has also had small roles in “40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Legally Blonde” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Federman has recruited six comedians for the festival, and each of them will curate one film. They will introduce the movie and participate in a Q&A afterward.

On the first day of the festival, Shandling will present a screening of Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy,” followed by Cho’s presentation of John Schlesinger’s “Darling.”

The second day will see Paul F. Tompkins presenting Mike Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy,” after which Doug Benson will present “Cocktail” as part of his ongoing series “Doug Benson’s Movie Interruption.”

Kevin Pollak will help close the festival with his presentation of “The In-Laws,” which starred Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. That will be followed by Andy Kindler’s presentation of Albert Brooks’ “Modern Romance.”

Admission to each presentation is $10, except for the “Cocktail” screening, which will cost $12.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) “Bridesmaids,Wholesale Ed hardy,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Help” were among the film nominees chosen on Thursday for annual Writers Guild Awards, but the screenwriters behind “War Horse” failed to make the cut in Hollywood’s race toward Oscars.

In a list of surprises, “The Descendants” and Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” also earned screenplay nominations from the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents film and television writers.

But likely Oscar contender “The Artist” — a French-made silent movie in black and white — was ineligible under WGA rules, as were other high-profile films including “My Week with Marilyn” and the Margaret Thatcher movie “The Iron Lady.”

Writers Guild nominations are restricted those movies made under the trade association’s rules on pay and working conditions, or pacts struck with affiliated foreign groups.

The Steven Spielberg-directed “War Horse” and September 11 drama “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” were eligible for inclusion but not nominated. The same fate befell political drama “The Ides of March”.

Instead cancer comedy “50/50″ and “Young Adult” picked up nominations for best original screenplay, along with the little-seen independent drama “Win Win” starring Paul Giamatti as a high school wrestling coach.

The Martin Scorsese 3D film “Hugo” and Brad Pitt vehicle “Moneyball” rounded out the 10 nominations for adapted and original screenplays.

The Writers Guild also announced nominations for documentary screenplay on Thursday, giving nods to “Senna”, about the life of late Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna, the Pina Bausch dance homage “Pina,” and Chilean film “Nostalgia for the Light.”

“Position Among the Stars,” which is set in the slums of Jakarta, and “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” also also nominated.

The Writers Guild Awards will be handed out at ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles on February 19.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney and Bob Tourtellotte)

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. An armed Iraq War veteran suspected of killing a Mount Rainier National Park ranger managed to evade snowshoe-wearing SWAT teams and dogs on his trail for nearly a day. He couldn’t,Cheap Ralph Lauren Kids, however, escape the cold.

A plane searching the remote wilderness for Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, on Monday discovered his body lying partially submerged in an icy, snowy mountain creek with snow banks standing several feet high on either side.

“He was wearing T-shirt, a pair of jeans and one tennis shoe. That was it,” Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Barnes did not have any external wounds and appears to have died due to the elements, he said. A medical examiner was at the scene to determine the cause of death. Troyer said two weapons were recovered, but he declined to say where they were located.

According to police and court documents, Barnes had a troubled transition to civilian life, with accusations in a child custody dispute that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following his Iraq deployments and was suicidal.

The mother of his toddler daughter sought a temporary restraining order against him, according to court documents.

She alleged that he got easily irritated, angry and depressed and kept an arsenal of weapons in his home. She wrote that she feared for the child’s safety. Undated photos provided by police showed a shirtless, tattooed Barnes brandishing two large weapons.

The woman told authorities Barnes was suicidal and possibly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after deploying to Iraq in 2007-2008, and had once sent her a text message saying “I want to die.”

In November 2011, a guardian ad litem recommended parenting and communication classes for both parents as well as a visitation schedule for Barnes until he completed evaluations for domestic violence and mental health and complied with treatment recommendations.

Maj. Chris Ophardt, an Army spokesman, told The News Tribune that Barnes had been stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, and was released from the Army in November 2009 after two years and seven months on active duty after charges of driving under the influence and improperly transporting privately owned weapons.

Steven Dean, FBI special agent, said Barnes worked in communications.

Barnes is believed to have fled to the remote park on Sunday to hide after an earlier shooting at a New Year’s house party near Seattle that wounded four, two critically. Authorities suspect he then fatally shot ranger Margaret Anderson.

Immediately after the park shooting, police cleared out Mount Rainier of visitors and mounted a manhunt.

Fear that tourists could be caught in the crossfire in a shootout with Barnes prompted officials to hold more than a 100 people at the visitors’ center before evacuating them in the middle of the night.

Late Sunday, police said Barnes was a suspect in another shooting incident.

On New Year’s, there was an argument at a house party in Skyway, south of Seattle, and gunfire erupted, police said. Barnes was connected to the shooting, said Sgt. Cindi West, King County Sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Police believe Barnes headed to the remote park wilderness to “hide out” following the Skyway shooting.

“The speculation is that he may have come up here, specifically for that reason, to get away,” parks spokesman Kevin Bacher told reporters early Monday. “The speculation is he threw some stuff in the car and headed up here to hide out.”

Anderson had set up a roadblock Sunday morning to stop a man who had blown through a checkpoint rangers use to check if vehicles have tire chains for winter conditions. A gunman opened fire on her before she was able to exit her vehicle, authorities say.

Before fleeing, the gunman fired shots at both Anderson and the ranger that trailed him, but only Anderson was hit.

Anderson would have been armed, as she was one of the rangers tasked with law enforcement, Bacher said. Troyer said she was shot before she had even got out of the vehicle.

Park superintendent Randy King said Anderson, a 34-year-old mother of two young girls who was married to another Rainier ranger, had served as a park ranger for about four years.

King said Anderson’s husband also was working as a ranger elsewhere in the park at the time of the shooting.

The shooting renewed debate about a federal law that made it legal for people to take loaded weapons into national parks. The 2010 law made possession of firearms subject to state gun laws.

Bill Wade, the outgoing chair of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said Congress should be regretting its decision.

“The many congressmen and senators that voted for the legislation that allowed loaded weapons to be brought into the parks ought to be feeling pretty bad right now,” Wade said.

Wade called Sunday’s fatal shooting a tragedy that could have been prevented. He hopes Congress will reconsider the law that took effect in early 2010, but doubts that will happen in today’s political climate.

Calls and emails to the National Rifle Association requesting comment were not immediately returned on Monday.

The NRA said media fears of gun violence in parks were unlikely to be realized, the NRA wrote in a statement about the law after it went into effect. “The new law affects firearms possession, not use,” it said.

The group pushed for the law saying people have a right to defend themselves against park animals and other people.

King said the park would remain closed Tuesday as the investigation continued and the rangers grieve the loss of their colleague.

“We have been through a horrific experience,” King said. “We’re going to need a little time to regroup.”

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Associated Press writer Donna Gordon Blankinship contributed from Seattle.

Purchase info: Buy it here.

I know, I know…it’s not the same…the precision, the details, the materials, etc. But for this minute, I can get the look now and for less!

In the meantime, twin-o-mom was amused when our accessories editor, Hannah Deely, suggested these $33 “Cartier” watches that look pretty damn cool. And hello: They lovingly named the replica the “Carter” watch. Hilarious!

This season, rose gold is the new underdog in metals and this particular replica makes us chuckle.

I love me a Cartier watch — do not get me wrong — but this mom has to pay for day camp and soccer for two, so certain things are not in the budget.

When Yigal Azrouël opens his first Cut25 store in Soho this spring, it will be awash with Technicolor. The designer, an avid wave rider himself, reaped inspiration from eighties surf culture for his diffusion line this season. As the 25 models made their Cedar Lake-choreographed movements within a designated square space, they showed off clean-cut pieces in electric tangerine and yellow, tamed down by more neutral shades of army green and black. The bright colors even extended to the shoes—the designer paired up with Frye to create poppy lambskin lace-up ankle boots and pink lambskin clogs—and the custom jewelry by Holst + Lee. The look is familiar—both athletic chic and neon bright clothes have popped up repeatedly throughout the week—but his “modern eighties” clothes are wearable. Azrouël devotees are likely to flock to the basic silk sleeveless tanks and dresses and the jet lambskin pieces. Caution: The citrus orange maxi is not built for the board.
—Kristin Studeman

Photos: Courtesy of Yigal Azrouël

Purchase info: Buy it here.

As I watched the parade of stars attend Diddy and Ashton Kutcher’s July 4th White Party for Malaria No More, all I kept thinking about was how pristine and white everything was on arrival, and couldn’t help but wonder who got the first spill of red wine on their fancy frock or left the party with grass stains on their pants.

Bypass the drycleaner (who may turn it yellow or not get out the stain immediately) and try this instead. I especially like that the bottle, available for $4.99, is so small that you can fit it in your evening clutch with your keys and iPhone.

See how your favorite stars spent July 4th!

And suddenly, a new e-mail came into my inbox: about OxiClean’s new Spray A-Way blast. The company was reading my mind! I specifically remember that last year, celebrity stylist June Ambrose, who works with Jay-Z among others, told me this was one of her favorite summer must-haves to keep white clothing clean, clean, clean!